1999 in Wales
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| See also: | List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history
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This article is about the particular significance of the year 1999 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents[edit]
- First Secretary – Alun Michael (from 12 May)
- Secretary of State for Wales
- Alun Michael (until 28 July)
- Paul Murphy
- Archbishop of Wales
- Alwyn Rice Jones, Bishop of St Asaph (retired)
- Rowan Williams, Bishop of Monmouth (elected)
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
- Dafydd Rowlands (outgoing)
- Meirion Evans (incoming)
Events[edit]
- January
- Protesting farmers blockade the north Wales headquarters of supermarket chain Iceland.
- Opening of the St David's Hotel in Cardiff Bay, Wales's first 5-star hotel.[1]
- February – Outbreak of meningitis in the Pontypridd area.
- March – West Wales and the Valleys is designated an Objective 1 region within the European Community.
- 6 May – 1999 National Assembly for Wales election, the first to be held.[2]
- 10 May – The Queen attends a gala concert in Cardiff Bay to celebrate the opening of the Welsh Assembly.[3]
- 12 May – The National Assembly for Wales meets in Cardiff for its first session.[4]
- 19 May – 'Robbie', probably the last pit pony to work in the U.K. is retired at Pant y Gasseg drift mine, near Pontypool in the South Wales coalfield.[5]
- June – Eight children in north Wales are taken ill with E. coli poisoning.
- 27 June – The Clydach murders: four members of the same family are found bludgeoned to death.[6]
- July – Bryncelyn Brewery begins brewing.
- December – Hyder cuts 1000 jobs after being forced to make cuts in their charges for electricity and water.
- 19 December – Charlotte Church makes her debut as a television actress in Heartbeat.
- Main construction work on Cardiff Bay Barrage completed.
Arts and literature[edit]
- Cysgod y Cryman by Islwyn Ffowc Elis (1953) is voted the most significant Welsh language book of the 20th century.
- Sir Harry Secombe suffers a second stroke, which forces him to give up his television career.
- Mary Hopkin joins The Chieftains on their UK tour.
- Dick Francis: A Racing Life, an unauthorised biography, suggests that his books were substantially written by his wife Mary.
- Painter Kyffin Williams is knighted for his services to the arts.
- September – Swansea Grand Theatre becomes the base for the Ballet Russe company.
Awards[edit]
- Cardiff Singer of the World – Anja Harteros
- Glyndŵr Award – Gillian Clarke
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Gwenallt Lloyd Ifan
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Ifor ap Glyn
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Sonia Edwards
- Wales Book of the Year:
- English language: Emyr Humphreys – The Gift of a Daughter
- Welsh language: R. M. Jones – Ysbryd y Cwlwm: Delwedd y Genedl yn ein Llenyddiaeth
- Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen – Ann Pierce Jones – Fflamio
New books[edit]
English language[edit]
- Richard Booth – My Kingdom of Books
- John Davies – The Making of Wales[7]
- Paul Ferris – Infidelity
- Patrick Hannan – The Welsh Illusion
- Craig Thomas – Slipping into Shadow
Welsh language[edit]
- Grahame Davies – Sefyll yn y Bwlch[8]
- Mair Wynn Hughes – Hen Ŵr y Môr
New drama[edit]
- Greg Cullen – Paul Robeson Knew My Father (play)[9]
Music[edit]
- Gillian Elisa – Haul ar Nos Hir (album)
- Gorky's Zygotic Mynci – Spanish Dance Troupe (album)
- Karl Jenkins – The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace
Film[edit]
- Catherine Zeta-Jones co-stars in Entrapment.
Welsh-language films[edit]
- Cymer Dy Siâr
- Porc Pei (Pork Pie)
- Solomon a Gaenor, starring Ioan Gruffudd
Broadcasting[edit]
- May – Huw Edwards begins presenting the BBC Six O'Clock News.
Welsh-language television[edit]
- Y Palmant Aur (drama)
- Yno o hyd (documentary)
- Tri Tenor – Gala concert with performances by Welsh tenors Gwyn Hughes Jones, Rhys Meirion and Timothy Richards
- Catrin Finch (documentary)
- Ponteifi (sitcom)
English-language television[edit]
- Sea of Troubles (documentary)
- House of the Future (documentary by Malcolm Parry)
- Barry Welsh is Coming (winner of the BAFTA Wales Award for Light Entertainment)
- Belonging (BBC Wales)
- The Big Picture (presented by Peter Lord)
Sport[edit]
- BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Colin Jackson[10]
- Football
- UWIC Inter Cardiff are Welsh Cup winners after beating Carmarthen Town on penalties.
- Barry Town win their fourth successive League of Wales title.
- Winners of the three divisions in the Welsh Football League are: Ton Pentre (Division 1), Penrhiwceiber Rangers (Division 2) & Caerleon (Division 3).
- Flexsys Cefn Druids are champions of the Cymru Alliance.
- AFC Llwydcoed and Garden Village are promoted to the Welsh Football League.
- Rugby
- The Rugby Union World Cup is hosted by Wales, with the final being held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, on 6 November. The winning team is Australia.
- Snooker
- Mark Williams wins the Welsh Open tournament in Cardiff.[11]
- Mark Williams wins the UK Championship for the first time, defeating Matthew Stevens in an all-Welsh final.[12]
Births[edit]
- 12 January – Tyler Roberts, footballer
- 29 April – Callum Scott Howells, actor and singer
- 23 June – Cai Evans, rugby player
- 15 October – Ben Woodburn, footballer[13]
Deaths[edit]
- 3 February (in London) – Alfred Janes, artist, 87[14]
- 8 February – Meredith Edwards, actor, 81[15]
- 16 February – Don Hayward, Wales and British Lions international rugby player, 73
- 17 February – John Lansdown, computer graphics pioneer, 70[16]
- 4 April – Raymond Davies Hughes, RAF airman and broadcaster, 75
- 11 April – Alan Evans, darts player, 49
- 6 May – Johnny Morris, television presenter, 82[17]
- 11 May – Robert Thomas, sculptor, 72[18]
- 12 July – Guy Griffiths, pilot, 84
- 16 July – Barri Jones, classical scholar and archaeologist, 63[19]
- 5 September – Ivor Roberts, former TWW presenter, 74
- 22 September – Clive Jenkins, trade union leader, 73[20]
- 24 October – Howard Griffiths, screenwriter, 64
- 15 November – Sir Harry Llewellyn, equestrian champion, 88[21]
- 27 November – Ernest Zobole, artist, 72[22]
- 6 December – Gwyn Jones, writer, 92[23]
- 19 December – Desmond Llewelyn, actor, 85 (car accident)[24]
- 23 December – Eirene White, politician, 90[25]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ HotelBusiness. ICD Publications. July 2000. p. 106.
- ^ Vacher's Parliamentary Companion. A.S. Kerswill. 1999. pp. 195–6.
- ^ "1999 - the year of Cool Cymru". BBC News Wales. 25 December 1999. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ Michael Connolly; Stephen Prosser; Rod Hough; Kathryn Potter (2 November 2015). Making it Happen in Public Service: Devolution in Wales as a Case Study. Andrews UK Limited. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-84540-478-9.
- ^ Jackson, Paul (September 2018). "Pantygasseg Colliery". Archive. 99: 18–47.
- ^ "Morris guilty of Clydach murders". BBC News. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ^ Russell Davies (25 February 2015). "John Davies obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ "Grahame Davies". Writers of Wales. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Val Hill (2006). Hijinx. Parthian. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-902638-77-5.
- ^ "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ "Welsh Open 1999". snooker.org. 4 February 2008.
- ^ "Liverpool Victoria UK Championship 1999". snooker.org. 26 November 2014.
- ^ "Ben Woodburn: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ George Melly (15 February 1999). "Alfred Janes obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Meredith Edwards". BFI. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ Huw Jones (3 March 1999). "John Lansdown obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ Tim Bullamore and Desmond Hawkins (8 May 1999). "Obituary: Johnny Morris". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Meic Stephens (2008). Necrologies: A Book of Welsh Obituaries. Seren. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-85411-476-1.
- ^ Obituary by Anthony Birley Friday July 23, 1999 in The Guardian
- ^ Keith Harper (23 September 1999). "Clive Jenkins". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Judith Draper (17 November 1999). "Sir Harry Llewellyn". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Peter Wakelin (23 December 1999). "Ernest Zobole". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Slay, Desmond (21 December 1999). "Gwyn Jones". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ "Bond actor killed in crash". BBC News. 19 December 1999. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- ^ Lena Jeger (27 December 1999). "Baroness White of Rhymney". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2019.